Underbelly
by rocknrollroyalty
Summary: This year at Hogwarts everything will change... Gang wars, secret societies, conspiracies and secrets... DMHG HPGW RWPP
1. Prologue

A/N: I'd just like to thank Halfling for letting me use her idea. Please go read Scales and A Tail which is what this fic was inspired by  Read and Review guys. I'd love to hear what you think.

For hundreds of years the students of Hogwarts have taken it into their own hands to build connections and alliances for the future. Secret organizations were formed all over the school for just that purpose, each specializing in their own field or subject. Some dated back to the founders themselves. These were the groups that only a select few knew about, rarely a person outside of the group itself.

Teachers, although they were aware these groups existed, had a code of agreement between them that they would not interfere with these organizations. They were oblivious to the inner workings of the groups. The teachers, although most had attended Hogwarts themselves were sworn to secrecy by the clubs they were in, the moment they graduated.

With no outside supervision, students ran these groups with military precision. Some of the groups were as simple as the gob stones club that didn't care for secrecy. Many included initiations and tests for entry. The choosing of members was an intricate and long-winded process that was conducted by the superiors of the group. The superiors could be the newest member of the group but one thing had to be remembered when you were a part of these organizations.

Time does not mean power.

The oldest member of the group may not always be in the superiors.

Now lets get to the details. You became applicable for entry to these organizations when you entered the sixth year and there are very rarely any exceptions. So the groups contained only seventh years. The main and most powerful ones only contained a dozen, tops, with the better half staying completely secret to any but the superiors.

You have at Hogwarts three main groups in power. Listen carefully, my friend, for the next three are at the top of the food chain in the underground workings of Hogwarts and information on them is scarce.

The first one consists of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The known members are Eddie Carmichael, Roxanne Trimble and Greg Chandler. These people know everything that goes on in Hogwarts whether it be public or top secret. They have eyes and ears all over the school and nothing happens without them knowing the nitty gritty details. They are called 'The Eyes'. Each member is called an eye.

Every city has a gang that deals in things less than legal. For Hogwarts it's this group of boys. The known members of this notorious gang are Matthew Vaisey, Thomas Urquhart, Terence Higgs and Miles Bletchley. With their multiple connections with dodgy yet powerful characters out of the school they can smuggle anything in or out of the school. But they too have their limits and are men of their word. A promise is made, a promise is kept.

The next is a law enforcement squad of sorts. This is a strictly Gryffindor organization that's purpose is to make sure that everything in the school is running smoothly. They keep the trouble makers in line. Their business is kept under wraps and they usually get it done without students noticing. The known members are Demelza Robins, Ritchie Coote and Andrew Kirke.

This year each group is recruiting new members to join their ranks. Each will be put through an initiation process before they are allowed in. Our golden trio are entering their sixth year and they are about to experience the closest thing to the final battle before the actual thing.

The most brutal thing about gang wars is that usually most of the school has no idea what's going on. That's including the teachers. So, attacks were subtle yet sometimes had disastrous repercussions. There hadn't been a war in a while, centuries in fact. The last gang war had caused the fleeing of Salazar Slytherin from the halls of Hogwarts.

Our story starts here, at platform 9 and ¾ in Kings Cross Station on September 1st where the trio are entering their sixth year at Hogwarts and are now eligible for membership to the various secret clubs as are the rest of their grade. Many will be taken in to lesser organizations. Some of which provide training and resources for the ruling powers.

But as we often find, when it comes to the troublesome three, there is no telling what could happen.


	2. Chapter 1: Recruitment

Chapter 1: Recruitment

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione pushed their way through the throng of people on the platform saying last minute goodbyes to their families. As per usual, they were late. But not late enough that they'd have to steal a flying, blue Ford Anglia. Mrs Weasley, when she was done unknowingly suffocating her children, put on a concerned look and expressed her discomfort at their being only twenty aurors on the train.

'Honestly, mum, you'd think we were going to war, not school,' an uncomfortable silence few over the group as they all were reminded of the war to come. In a feeble attempt to carry on the conversation 'Do you think they'll serve treacle tart at the feast?' It earned him a slap on the back of the head from Hermione.

'Sometimes you should just shut up, Ron,' Ginny rolled her eyes exasperatedly at her brother.

'You'd best get on the train,' Molly said as she eyed the clock.

'Bye, mum,' 'Bye, Mrs. Weasley,' with a kiss and a hug more, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry boarded the train.

'Do you reckon that Slughorn will be a good DADA teacher?' Ron asked.

'What if he isn't?' the possibilities ran through Hermione's mind 'What if I fail my NEWTs? We're going to have to study all the—'

'For the love of Merlin, Hermione, I'm sure he's a great teacher,' Ron sighed.

'But what if he isn't?'

As Hermione continued harrying herself about the staff's ability to teach, a meeting was taking place three carriages on in compartment number 35.

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"But it's always those three, generations to come will just roll their eyes at us and think how pretentious of us it was to do so," a particularly vexed Andrew Kirke frowned in frustration.

"But who else is there that's been through as much as them?" Geoffrey Hooper, the large blonde boy whose head kept bumping against the luggage rack, reasoned.

"You've both got valid arguments and I've not wholly made up my mind either," Demelza Robins eyed her list of potential members.

"We've got to make a decision," Kirke slammed his fist on the table that Demelza had conjured.

"We'll take them," Demelza frowned "But we'll have to put them through a specialized initiation though."

"Specialized?" Hooper's head thudded against the luggage rack again.

"Specialized."

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'Vaisey, it's got to be Malfoy and his boys,' a stocky brown-haired boy, Terence Higgs, sat back on his bench.

'Crabbe and Goyle?' Matthew Vaisey sat with his chin on the table in front of him, blowing his dark locks out of his eyes carelessly.

'No, Nott and Zabini, you dolt,' Thomas Urquhart slapped him on the back of the head 'those boys have more connections than girls Vaisey's slept with.'

'They could benefit us,' the fourth boy in the compartment, Miles Bletchley, spoke 'but if we value our connection with the Lions then we can't choose them.'

'Why ever the hell not?' Vaisey asked.

'The Lions are bound to pick the wonder twins and brains as their new recruits,' Bletchley rolled his eyes 'only a dunce wouldn't know that Potter and Malfoy are arch enemies. Sometimes I wonder why they picked you, Vaisey.'

'You've all got connections outside the school and I've got connections inside it,' Vaisey straightened up and his chest puffed out slightly. The other boys ignored him.

'Generations to come will scoff at the predictability of their decision,' Bletchley again.

'You think people won't at ours?' Urquhart.

'We're Slytherin, men; predictability is a feature we only award to Gryffindors,' Terence Higgs sneered.

'People _will_ expect our choice to be Malfoy, Nott and Zabini,' Miles looked thoughtful 'Do we value our business more than our reputation?'

'Should we put it to the _Others_?' Vaisey frowned.

'The _Others_? Do they really need to be involved in the recruitment?' with a troubled expression, Bletchley looked out the window.

'We might just have to,' Urquhart sighed in resignation.

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Fifteen compartments down from the Dons a hushed summit was taking place.

'It's just as we suspected of course,' a female voice spoke.

'They're going to contact the _Others_ soon, we'd better station our recruits,' sitting in the corner was the second member of the small group.

'We can trust them with a small a mission as this,' the third and last member of the group spoke.

'Those Slytherin gits, can't do a thing for themselves,' the girl sneered 'keep calling on the _Others_.'

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A/N: hehehe, who are the mysterious others? Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out (after at least 10 chapter). What do you guys think? Thank you for the reviews I got last time! I appreciate feedback. Any questions go there, too!


	3. Chapter 2: Initiations, The Lions

Recap

'_We can trust them with a small a mission as this,' the third and last member of the group spoke._

'_Those Slytherin gits can't do a thing for themselves,' the girl sneered 'keep calling on the Others.'_

Recap

The trains came to a halt in the little wizarding town of Hogsmeade as it does every year. Also like every other year, the first years rowed their way up to the castle and everyone else took the carriages. Unlike most years, Harry and his friends were given another option.

At 7:36 p.m., ten minutes before the train stopped, an anonymous envelope had been slipped under the door of the friends' compartment. Its seal had upon it a lion in gold. They'd opened the door to find no-one in sight. Curiosity, as it often does, got the better of the three and they carefully tore open the envelope.

_To the occupants of compartment 32,_

_We are part of a secret society for law enforcement at Hogwarts. The three of you have been through enough perilous situations for us to consider you as a potential member for our society. But the selection process isn't that simple. You must first prove yourselves to us._

_Your mission should you choose to accept it is this:_

_DO NOT join your classmates in the carriages up to the castle. Instead you will walk to the main street of Hogsmeade. Turn to the _Gladrags' _shoebox and inside you will find your next instructions._

_However, if you do not accept, you will never hear from us or speak of us again. _

_The Lions_

'No,' Hermione sternly put the letter back in the envelope.

'Why not?' Ron's general defiance of rules, even if they were _Hermione's_, kicked in.

'Doesn't this seem familiar? Letters, paper giving instructions, signed under an alias,' the painful memories of their second year came back.

'We'll spend the rest of our lives wondering,' Ron looked to Harry for support.

'We shouldn't,' he said weakly as Hermione stared daggers at him.

'That hasn't stopped us before,' Ron pointed out.

'Yes, but now there's nothing more important than keeping ourselves alive,' Hermione's eyed darted imperceptibly to Harry's and then back to Ron.

'It's my job to keep you out of trouble and I say no,' Hermione frowned 'What if it's another one of Voldemort's plans,' _there, I said it, are you happy? _She thought.

'Fine,' Ron stamped his foot and that was that. No-one was going anywhere but straight to Hogwarts tonight.

They'd gotten off the train and followed the throng of students that were making their way up to the carriages. Grudgingly and rather loudly from Ron, they found an empty carriage and climbed in. Laying on the seat inside, was a slip of paper no bigger than a muggle business card. On it was the same golden lion they'd seen on the seal of the envelope.

Gingerly, Hermione picked it up. No writing. She flipped it over.

_Congratulations, you made the right choice._

'Bet they think they're really clever, setting a test like that,' the girl was draped over the yellow sofa in the astronomy tower 'In any case, the shoebox only had a rejection letter in it.'

'There's still that other letter waiting for them in the boys' room,' the boy leant against the window. He chuckled 'I wonder what they'll make of it.'

_On your judgment, we congratulate you. The offer remains open. Should you want to join our ranks, the offer still remains._

_Room of Requirement 9:00 p.m. sharp, Tuesday._

_We hope to see you there._

_Sincerely,_

_The Lions_

'So, it was a test?' Ron peered at the parchment.

'That's basically what it's saying,' Hermione nodded.

'Should we go?' Harry looked up at his friends.

'I've heard of _The Lions_. They've always been somewhat less talked about in books outside of the restricted section,' Hermione shut _101 Ways to Transfigure A Horseradish_ and turned to give them her full attention. 'Even in the restricted section there isn't much. But here's what I_ think_ is going on.

'For hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, senior Hogwarts students, that's 5th years to 7th, have made secret societies. The Lions formed to keep the peace among Hogwarts students and the Dons, mostly Slytherins, smuggle substances or objects in and out of the school.'

'That's bloody brilliant innit?' Ron munched on a chocolate frog he had saved from the train journey.

'Keep going,' Harry ignored Ron.

'There is one more group that was mentioned only once. They're called the Eyes, they're sort of the all knowing. Nothing goes on in the school without them knowing. They'll even know, in most cases, how it'll end,' Hermione frowned; disappointed that she couldn't come up with more information.

'So, should we go?' Hermione looked away from Harry. She didn't know.

A/N: Can't wait to hear what yo uguys think of the chapter. Next time you'll be seeing the DONS!! Reviews are love!


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